The Kingdom
by The King in White
Summary: Hashirama slays Madara in the Valley of the End. Generations later Namikaze Naruko is the beloved only child of the legendary Yondaime Hokage, and best friend of one Uchiha Sasuke. But a brighter Konoha has farther to fall, and enemies thirst for blood in the shadows.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and I make no profit from the writing from this.**

(AN): Beep boop. Here we go kids.

...Yes. TOO MANY PROJECTS. ALL THESE THOUGHTS IN MY HEEEAD.

What can I do though? Just write and write some more.

Again, **Female Naruto paired with Sasuke**. I guess it's my OTP? I certainly contribute more to that pairing than any other I've considered...

* * *

_Chapter One - Gathering Clouds  
_

* * *

Namikaze Naruko laughed, high peals as her bright blue eyes flashing in the sunlight. The Yondaime Hokage's daughter leapt at her best friend, wrapping her arms and legs around him as she forced a piggy back. "Oh teme, this is the best gift _ever_."

"But-"

"_Ever_."

Uchiha Sasuke flushed tomato red. "Well it _is_ your sixteenth birthday." he offered, pompousness covering up his embarrassment at what he felt was _too_ much praise. Then he shrugged, dumping the leggy blonde on her ass in the grass.

"But even so." the girl cooed at him, eyes wet with unshed tears. "A bowl a day a Ichiraku's for a year? There is such a thing as going overboard ya know?"

The hitae-ate around her neck shimmered as she shrugged before batting her eyes. "Oh _kyaa_ Sasuke-kun! Spending so much on little old me?"

The Uchiha glared, ignoring the heat on his cheeks.

"Maybe it was the only thing I knew your fat _dobe_ ass would want." Sasuke snarked, violating the unspoken taboo of _never tell a woman she was overweight._

Blue eyes winked knowingly as Minato looked over at Fugaku. The view from Minato's study didn't portray sound. But they could see and read lips well enough. And the way Naruko tackled her best friend in a fury of attempting to choke him while laughing in pure amusement as they rolled around on the lawn was unmistakable.

"You know old man," the Hokage smirked conversationally. "Back when I was a kid a guy used to show a girl he liked her was by picking on her."

Fugaku replied in a low drawl. "Well I do imagine he'd have to have _some_ degree of affection for a girl who's been his friend for going on a decade."

"Don't play dumb Fugu-kun." the Hokage chortled around his cup of tea. "You know perfectly well what I mean."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, _Mina-chan_." the Clan Head answered waspishly.

Bright blues narrowed into a glare as the blond man tossed his head imperiously. "Oh no. You did not just."

"Ah, what is the phrase? Oh yes. I just _did_."

"This is _war_."

"Oh quiet yourself before I commit defenestration on the village head."

"You wouldn't _dare_."

"Amusingly enough, I did dare. Though the daring was more along the lines of tying you passed out drunk and naked to the back of a donkey."

Fugaku could only laugh, the stress lines of his face melting away with amusement as Minato wailed "You promised we would never mention that again!".

"It seems apparent that I lied."

"Well then maybe I lied about never telling Mikoto of that one time we were in Suna and that cross-dresser was _inordinately_ interested in you." the Namikaze smirked craftily.

"Oh Gods."

* * *

Folding his arms and leaning against the wall, Fugaku stared over Minato's shoulder at the four retired shinobi seated in a row across the Hokage's desk. All the levity from earlier in the day at Naruko's sixteenth birthday bash had long since evaporated.

"We feel that you're just not taking these threats seriously enough Hokage-sama." Koharu leaned in with an impassioned expression. "You know just as well as we do that our enemies aren't just playing around. Kumogakure has been building up its military might since the village was founded. Their Yondaime Raikage is far more militant than any of his predecessors! And that Tsuchikage has been holding a grudge against you since the Third Shinobi World War!"

Smiling disarmingly, Minato held his hands up in a placating motion. "Koharu-san please. I'm not ignorant as to the possibility of a threat, but how could we ever fulfill the Shodai's dream if we insist on treating everyone around us with suspicion? It only engenders ill will and the need for violence."

Giving an emphasizing thumb over his shoulder at his teammate, the Hokage continued. "Just look at the Uchiha Clan – when Madara turned we could have continued regarding them with doubt and disdain. Instead Hashirama-sama continued to reach out to them with open hands, and their loyalty and commitment to this village are second to none."

Eying the frowning clan head with a considering look, Homura nodded slowly. "You're correct I suppose, but I would disagree that Shodai-sama did not at least prepare for the _possibility_ that some may follow in the footsteps of their traitorous forefather. You know the old sayings as well as I – if you want peace, prepare for war."

"That's not what Jiraiya-sensei passed down to me – the legacy of the Shodai and the _Hi no Ishi_." Minato sighed, passing an exasperated hand over his hitae-ate and looking out the window.

"Hiruzen." was all Danzo barked, a one word prompt that sent the retired Hokage into a faint frown.

"That may be so." the Sandaime began slowly. "But Jiraiya was always more optimistic than the world warrented. My student saw the world as he believed it should be, not as it truly is. There is nothing wrong with working for peace." Hiruzen added quickly at the darkened look on the Yondaime's face. "But you cannot ignore that war can always come at the drop of a knife and that others may not be willing to listen to you."

Silence hung in the office as Minato chewed a pensive lip and fiddled with a pen in lithe fingers. Dropping the implement with a clacker, the Namikaze dragged reluctant blue eyes up to his council and gave a slow nod. "I'll think on this matter. Now please see yourselves out."

"Yondaime-sama-"

"I said I'd think about it, now leave."

Giving up at the obstinate steely tone, the four rose and trailed past the weasel masked ANBU member lurking in the corner of the office. The ANBU shinobi watched the four carefully until they left before turning back to face the village head.

"Go on home Itachi-kun." Minato smiled wearily and waved the young man off. Bowing with a last concerned glance, the Uchiha heir vanished from the room.

Leaning back with a huff, the blonde parked his feet on his desk and gazed up at the ceiling blankly. "What do you think Fugaku?"

Picking his words carefully, the chief of the Military Police Force stared down at his best friend with churning Sharingan eyes. "I think that there's a lot of merit in what they say. By the Kami I don't want my children to have to fight a war – even Itachi simply by being around during the last one has been changed irrevocably. But if we show a weak hand to the other villages it's very likely they _will_ invade. Kumo and Iwa _hate_ you, and Kiri is just healing from a civil war. Only Suna is willing to listen to us as it is. I know Jiraiya-sensei had a lot of hopes for you – for _us, _but there is only so much one man can do."

Crow's eye wrinkles crinkled around red eyes as Fugaku forced his usually stern face into a smile. "If breaking down the walls between Konoha and Suna are the only thing you achieve in your reign as Hokage, it will have been more achievement than most men could have ever dreamed of having. Daichi-san likes you ever since you fixed Gaara's seal, and Gaara himself _adores_ you for doing it. You've built the friendship we need to really understand one another in a single lifetime."

Rolling his eyes, Minato rose to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Go home to Mikoto-chan Fugaku. Or she'll skin me alive for keeping you late again. And then tie you to a stump until you learn your lesson." The third member of Team Jiraiya was a sweet-natured woman, but vicious when roused.

"Shut your mouth unless you want Kushina to know all about that last assassination attempt you never told her about. I imagine whatever Mikoto does to me will pale in comparision to what _your_ wife does to you."

"You'll be joining me when Mikoto learns you took a kunai to the ribs that time and claimed it was a stomach ache!"

* * *

Naruko grinned cheerily, folding her legs under her as she settled her back against her home and stared at the rising moon. The chill of autumn was just settling over the village, and the blonde was looking forward to Hi no Kuni's rare winter snows.

"So I was eavesdropping on Kaa-chan the other day." Naruko began, turning her face to stare up at Sasuke's hovering form. The Uchiha was leaning against the house beside her with hands his in pockets, and with a roll of her eyes the blond grabbed a pantleg and yanked until he sunk down beside her.

"Like I was saying." Naruko powered on, ignoring Sasuke's huff of annoyance. "I was eavesdropping on Kaa-chan _and Tou-chan_ the other day. "

Dark eyes tracked over the stars as Sasuke's lips curled in amusement. "Oh? Were they talking about how you were adopted?"

Scowling, Naruko dug an elbow into the Uchiha's side and growled at his wince. "Will you stop going on about that you retard? I cried _once_ when I was like _six _when you said that! And it wasn't even true!"

"Hn."

"You were always such a shithead. Still are." Grinning fondly, Naruko drew her knee up to her chest and absently ran a smooth hand over dark, thick, thigh high stockings. Her thoughts were jumbled with both excitement and apprehension.

"...They were talking about having another kid." Blue eyes sparkled with overt joy as Naruko continued to hug her knee. "I can't imagine what it'll be like to have a imouto or otouto running around."

Grunting wordlessly, Sasuke slid down the wall to crouch beside his best friend. The Uchiha dragged a pale finger through the dirt as he turned the thought over. Naruko had always wanted a bigger family, but her mother's delicate condition as a jinchuuriki ensured that the blonde remained an only child. The Hokage and his wife may have been willing to risk the Kyuubi's breakout for the sake of starting a family, but not for the sake of extra children they may not truly want to have.

Until now it seemed.

"Just imagine having another ramen obsessed idiot running around and screaming they want to become Hokage."

"Asshole!"

"I could ask Itachi to talk to you about it." Sasuke decided after a beat. His older brother was overprotective, overbearing, and overshadowing. But Itachi loved his younger brother fiercely, and if there was anyone that Sasuke trusted to raise a younger sibling it was Itachi.

Naruko's smile was as brilliant as the sun. "Thanks, Sasuke!"

"Don't let it go to your head Usuratonkachi."

* * *

Cupping her hands around her lukewarm cup of tea, Mikoto took a slow deliberate sip as her elder son glided through the front door. Itachi's face is blank, like it has been so many nights in the years her son joined Konoha's Black Ops. Tamping down the motherly concern that whispered in her ears – _my son, my son, where is your smile_ – Mikoto gave the young man a soft smile.

"Okaeri, Itachi-kun."

"Tadaima, Kaa-san." Itachi murmurs out at the same moment, blinking owlishly as their voices mingle before reaching up to unbuckle the clasps of his chest armour. Stripping out of his ANBU issue gear is an automatic gesture, Itachi eager to shed the symbols of a killer. Itachi hefted the bundle of armour in his arms as he slipped his feet from his zori and wandered to his room.

After giving her son enough time to stow his gear and shower, Mikoto rose from the bench near the entryway and went in search of him.

She found Itachi peering into Sasuke's room, and laughed. So many years since Sasuke had been born, and Itachi was still mother henning him.

Sliding the door shut with a sour look, Itachi turned to face Mikoto. "Where is otouto?"

"Out with Naruko-chan. Where's your father?"

"He was meeting with Hokage-sama the last time I saw him."

Mikoto's eyes turned glacial as she scowled. "Again? I've told Minato-kun time and again that it's not healthy for him to work so late." Smoothing her tan dress over slender hips, the retired jounin stomped back to wait impatiently for her husband to come home.

Frowning after her, Itachi shrugged it off as none of his concern and wandered back to his own room.

Folding her arms under her bosom, Mikoto seethed and waited. Minutes ticked by, marked by the impatient tapping of her foot until the front door slid open.

Fugaku's face went through an interesting combination of expressions – surprise, followed by pure panic, subsiding into an impassive look as he stepped inside and began to remove his shoes. Neither Uchiha spoke as Mikoto stepped forward to help her husband shrug off his uniform flak vest and hang it on their coat rack.

Only once Fugaku was seated with a steaming cup of tea at the kitchen table did Mikoto let fly her ire. "What have I told you about working so late?" the woman sighed.

"Hn."

"Don't grunt at me mister." Mikoto warned, glaring at her husband with red Sharingan eyes. "You're not as young as you used to be Fugaku! You should be working normal hours like normal people."

"It's not that late."

"It's ten o'clock at night you stubborn man! The rest of the world leaves the office at four – if I didn't know better I'd assume you and Minato-kun were crawling around the bars every night." Throwing up her hands in annoyance, Mikoto shook her head with exasperation. "I don't even know why I bother. You never listen to what I tell you anyway."

Fugaku rolled his eyes at her, sipping from his cup and muttering "Because you worry too much."

"I worry too much? Maybe _you_ worry too much." Mikoto accused, shaking her head. "It's not like there's anything to worry about anyway that justifies you working so late." If not for her habitually activated doujutsu, Mikoto may have missed the brief flash of guilt that crossed her husband's face.

Lifting a slender eyebrow, Mikoto leaned forward and lowered her voice. "There is nothing to worry about, Fugaku?" Her husband's jaw clenched at the query, and the Uchiha woman tensed with worry.

Fugaku swirled the last dregs of his tea around the bottom of his porcelain cup, staring at the swirling dregs as he weighed what was appropriate to tell his wife. He didn't want her to worry, but the Uchiha Clan Head knew full well that if he tried to withold the important aspect it would only work her into more of a frenzy. And then Mikoto would hunt down Minato and force the entire story out of their teammate.

Swallowing down the last of the warming drink, Fugaku closed weary eyes. "There are troubling rumours. Buildups in Iwa and Kumo that have the council in a frenzy to prepare."

"War?" Mikoto murmured, settling a comforting hand over his own and making him blink at her astuteness.

Staring at the clock hanging at the wall, Fugaku counted half past ten and frowned. "Possibly."

Mikoto clutched a tight hand around his, fear for her children biting fiercely as she swallowed thickly. The faint lines around her eyes tightened as she reach out and cupped Fugaku's chin, dragging the man's face around to look her in the eyes.

"Do you believe it will come to that?"

Unable to lie straight to his wife's face, Fugaku held his tongue. And that was all the confirmation Mikoto needed.

The long slide of wood on wood broke through the air, startling both parents away from each other to stare out the door at the hall. A faint rustle of cloth heralded an approach, and when Sasuke poked a head around the corner both were ready with reassuring masks.

"Kaa-san? Tou-san?" Sasuke cocked his head to the side at the confusing sight of both of his parents up and apparently waiting so late. Anxiousness flared as Sasuke stared at the pair "You weren't waiting were you? I told Kaa-san I'd be at Naruko's."

"We weren't waiting Sasuke-kun." Mikoto reassured warmly as she squeezed Fugaku's hand one last time before pulling away. "Just talking about your father's job.'

Boredum crested in Sasuke's face as he assumed it was another one of _those_ arguments. Not that Sasuke disagreed with his mother when she said his father needed to be home more often. But it was such a common occurrence that it was almost a fact of daily life.

Wandering over to the sink, Sasuke scooped up a glass and filled it with lukewarm water from the tap. The teenager gulped down the liquid, grimacing inwardly at the warmth but unwilling to expend the effort to hunt down ice cubes to cool it.

Uncomfortable silence hung in the air as Sasuke gulped down the drink, the apple of his throat bobbing prominently as the two parents stared at their son. Scowling at the feeling of eyes on his back, Sasuke set the used glass in the sink before smoothing his features into a more neutral expression and turning about.

Sasuke favoured parents a solemn nod before shoving his hands in his pockets and stepping from the room with a distracted air. Soft voices rose behind him as he left the room, and rolling his eyes at the shielding tendency of his parents, Sasuke set off in search of his brother.

Finding him lazing about on the veranda, Sasuke took in the moonlight glinting over his mother's garden before poking Itachi with his foot.

Dark lashes fluttered open as the older brother silently turned his attention from inner musings to his far more hotheaded younger brother. "Otouto." Itachi greeted softly, stretching like an indolent cat and settling his hands behind his head.

"Minato-oji and Kushina-oba are talking about a baby." Sasuke began without preamble, tugging on his lavender jacket as he stared absently at the distant stars on the horizon. "I told Naruko I'd ask you if you'd take to her about older sibling things."

Vocalizing a low "Aa." Itachi yawned and closed his eyes. Humming absently, the Uchiha heir proceeded to mentally weigh what sort of things that he'd be telling Naruko.

Sasuke scowled at the seeming dismissal, nudging Itachi again with a sandaled foot and folding his arms. "What's it going to be nii-san? Yes or no?"

"Was it ever in doubt?" Itachi replied rhetorically, rolling to his feet in one smooth motion. Turning the corners of his lips up in a very familiar smirk, Itachi winked at the long-suffering look Sasuke adopted when he reached out and poked two fingers at the younger man's forehead.

* * *

"You're late!" Kushina barked when a sheepish look Minato poked his blonde head through their bedroom door. Narrowing a foul blue glare at her husband, the jinchuuriki blew a red strand of hair out of her face and flopped back down in bed.

Grousing in a low "Always, always late."Kushina propped her head up on her hand a waiting impatiently as Minato gave up his attempt to sneak in and shuffled into their bedroom. "Don't even try to give me that crap about Hokage having to work late. I've _been_ to your office, and you're just being a lazy bum all the time."

Minato chuckled nervously as he shucked off his distinctive white flame-embroidered overcoat and tossed it over the foot of the bed. "Well there's a lot of paperwork. A _lot_ of paperwork." the Hokage emphasized under his breath, zipping down his flak jacket and dropping it to the hardwood.

"Not that much!"

Crawling into bed beside his wife, the blonde wrapped his arms around her pressed a kiss to Kushina's temple in apology.

The redhead held stiff for a long moment before allowed herself to be reluctantly mollified. The argument wasn't _really_ about Minato coming home late from the office – the Hokage was good at coming home at a regular hour, and late nights were most often worked from home by hosting various clan heads and politicians for dinner.

But arguing about something ultimately unimportant to her enabled Kushina to push off the discussion she knew was pending.

Minato settled a hand over his wife's stomach and smiled apologetically when the woman frowned at him.

If Kushina was being totally and fully honest with herself, she wanted to have another child. Always had. Especially after the destruction of Uzushiogakure and the scattering of her diminished clan to the four winds. But after Mito had passed down the Kyuubi, Kushina bitterly found herself resigned to never having the family she'd desperately craved.

Until she met Minato.

Her husband was a sissy, Kushina mused with a fond smirk. But the Yondaime Hokage had determination and hope in spades. It had taken months of debating, of weighing the consequences and making plans to handle the Kyuubi if something went wrong before Kushina gave in and agreed to have a child.

And she never regretted a moment of it. Naruko was everything she'd ever wanted in a daughter. Beautiful. Strong. Determined. Smart (and far smarter than the blonde allowed anyone to realize). And first, last, and most of all _Kushina's_.

She wanted more children. Another daughter to spoil. A proud son to raise. More children to pass down the history and teachings of her clan – even if their name was Namikaze. With the Kyuubi in the way it would be risky. But no more risky than it had been to have Naruko.

For so long she'd buried that want. Contenting herself by pouring all the love she had into the little family she'd been blessed with. And it had been enough. Not ideal, but enough. Even if she and her husband wanted more children. Even if Naruko grew up asking with an adorable pout if she could have little brothers and sisters.

So months had stretched into years. Happy years. So many happy memories and moments filled with love and laughter. The shadow of their lonely childhoods had been put in the grave as both Kushina and Minato did everything they could to give Naruko the life they had craved as children. A safe and stable family. Loving parents and friends. The freedom to chose what Naruko wanted to do with life rather than laying down the lofty expectations of the Uzumaki clan's history.

And as far as Kushina could see, Naruko had flourished. Grown into a succesful and skilled kunoichi with excellent career prospects. Aside from tantrums as a child about not having a new toy or a favourite food for dinner, Naruko had never shown the slightest dissatisfaction with her life. And that made Kushina very happy, and she knew her husband was as well.

But Naruko was growing older. Their daughter was a young woman on the cusp of adulthood, and soon enough the blonde girl would be looking for her own love and to start her own family. Sooner rather than later if Kushina had to guess from the glances Naruko gave Mikoto's boy when her daughter thought no one was looking. And both Kushina and Minato were still young – they had plenty of years to raise another child before their nest was forever empty.

Kushina settled a hand over her husband's, squeezing it tightly as she turned smiling blues to pin Minato's own cerulean gaze. Swallowing thickly, Kushina gave him a shaky smile. "Okay."

Raising thin blonde brows in surprise, the Hokage tilted his head as his wife before grinning wickedly. Blue eyes trailed down her sheer negligee and Minato grinned lecherously.

"I see you – the hentai Yondaime Hokage. Just like your sensei." Kushina complained without heat, winking in reply and smoothing a hand along her well toned body. She was still a kunoichi, and he was still a shinobi, and neither had excess flab to speak of.

Minato's breath hitched as he drunk in the sight. Blood rushed to his groin, and the Hokage reached out for his wife.

* * *

Hinata hid her yawn behind delicate fingers as she wound her way out of her clan compound and padded along the early morning streets of Konoha. Composed and regal, the Hyuuga heiress was the picture of refined nobility and grace.

No one could have guessed from the sight of the pearl eyed young woman gliding through the streets that she preferred to sleep in. That her best friend was a loudmouth blonde with horrific table manners (most of the time, since on occasions Naruko _could_ force herself to be polite). That her other teammate was one of the curtest young men in Konoha that refused to use honorifics for the majority of people he met. And most especially that her sensei was an unrepentant pervert with a tendency to read porn in public.

Passing a hurrying Rock Lee on his way to harass the Hyuuga until it produced his Branch House teammate, Hinata spared the exuberant young man an acknowledging nod. She wound her own way through the village towards a specific training ground with a specific red bridge.

As usual, Hinata was the first member of Team Kakashi to show up at their designated meeting place. Familiarity bred nostalgia, and the Hyuuga found herself reminiscing over the years she'd spent on the team. In some teams it was expected that when a member was promoted in rank that they would disengage from the cell and be replaced with a stranger.

Her team was nothing like those cold arrangements of ambition and circumstance. Team Kakashi was _home. _A place to belong that Hinata had thought she'd never be able to have. Especially on the first day she learned her teammates names and realized that she'd be placed with a cold Uchiha and a loud Namikaze that would surely detest the shy, worthless, lesser skilled older daughter of the Hyuuga Clan Head.

Such assumptions were dispelled when Naruko demanded that Hinata come out for ramen. Talking the ears off the shy genin that she'd been so that Hinata never felt pressured to speak out. But always, _always_ willing to lend an eager ear whenever Hinata could muster the courage to speak. Until Hinata began to smile and call her _'sister'_.

When Sasuke had stared at her through black eyes and said _'fight me'_, and proceeded to spar with the Hyuuga girl everyone else had given up on as if she was an equal with strength. On their first C-Rank mission the Uchiha had stepped in front of Hinata's shaking form and taken a kunai to the ribs for her. And then Hinata had smiled at him and called her clan's historical enemy _'brother'_.

Proud of the bonds his students had built, Hinata's sensei had taken an avid interest in the health and growth of his students. And Hinata had learned every lesson Kakashi was willing to teach her. From the importance of their team as family to will to protect them with her very life.

So when all three genin made chuunin, Hinata was ecstatic to have the chance to remain with her friends. Neither Sasuke nor Naruko displayed any urgency to leave her behind, and Kakashi was pleased to lead the three into battle.

Hinata had grown from the timid girl she'd been before her Team, even if she'd never connected her happiness and smiles with her renewed sense of worth until she found herself staring at Hanabi's crumpled form after yet another spar the _worthless_ older sister had expected to lose. At that moment she'd finally earned the acknowledge her family and clan had been witholding from her.

Only to realize that she'd found another family to give her what she'd needed.

"Hinata."

Sasuke's voice called from her right as the Uchiha stepped onto the bridge with a steady gait. Dark eyes scanned automatically over the horizon for either their loud blonde teammate or lazy sensei.

After a slow blink while she waited for the other teenager to refocus on her, Hinata smiled "Sasuke-kun. How are you?"

Eying the long-haired Hyuuga with an ambivalent glance, Sasuke pulled up beside Hinata and leaned into cherry red rails. "Fine." the Uchiha grunted after a moment, closing dark eyes and folding his arms over his lavender zip-up sweater.

Long since used to Sasuke's curtness, Hinata smoothed her white and purple jacket in an habitual motion as she turned pearl eyes to watch the trickling river. Neither Uchiha nor Hyuuga were given to small talk, and it took the appearance of a bouncy blonde to truly break the silence.

"Sasuke! Hinata-chan!" Naruko greeted as the Namikaze pounced onto the bridge. Ignoring the eye roll the Uchiha gave her antics, Naruko wrapped her arms around Hinata and swung the smaller girl into a spinning hug.

Flushing red, Hinata stammered out a "Naruko-chan!" at her exuberant teammate before the Hyuuga was set down in favour of repeating the gesture with a shocked Uchiha.

"What the hell dobe?!" Sasuke growled as Naruko whirled him through the air like a damsel. "Don't touch me!"

"You know you love it!" the blonde laughed as she let him go, smirking when Sasuke went stumbling into crimson rails and gave Naruko a foul glare.

"Hey! Hey!" Naruko bounced as she turned back to an amused Hyuuga. "Guess what Hinata-chan? Guess what?"

"Naruto-chan..." was all the dark-haired young woman was able to murmur out before the Namikaze plowed on.

"Kaa-chan and Tou-chan are going to have another baby!"

"What." Came a blank voice as Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves, Icha Icha cradled in long fingers.

Grinning at the shocked jounin, Naruko reached out and swung her sensei into a whirl just as she had with her teammates.

"It's true Kaka-sensei!" she sang out as the Hatake sagged bonelessly against the rails when released.

Thumbing a declatory thumb towards her chest, the Naruko laughed "Kaa-chan and Tou-chan told me this morning. They're going to have another kid. Just imagine." the blonde sighed dreamily at the thought. "I'm going to be a big sis to a little sister or brother!"

"Kami save us all." Sasuke sighed, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

"Don't be jealous Sasu-chan." Naruko scolded as she poked a finger into the raven's chest. "Just because you don't have a little brother or sister to be awesome with doesn't mean I can't." Twirling on the spot, Naruko set blue eyes on the Hokage's tower and took off running.

"Here's comes big sis Naru!" she sang out.

Hinata laughed.

* * *

(AN): I've decided that for **The Kingdom** every chapter will bank at 5000. Still a medium length (not random like **Chasing Yesterday**'s 7000), and enough to give a good read for every one. As you can see, I've dropped the chapter quotes for this one in favour of naming the chapters at the top of every writing portion.

I suppose if I can pre-empt some questions: What I'm doing for this part is kind of world building this first chapter. I'm showing up relationships, building character history and motives, as well as bringing in background political movements. Showcasing the happy world as is before it all goes to shit.

As you can see, Team Kakashi replaced Sakura with Hinata – which was inspired by Bakunawa's "Hime-sama" (specifically chapter 11, though I don't intend to overtone this team as a three way like that, or like **Deadlock** is). So if you're hungry to know, this is also going to only be a SasukexNaruko fic. Since Naruko is not a jinchuuriki or an orphan here, she did well in class and the teams turned out different. Especially with Minato as Hokage.

In that vein I've also altered canon's Team Jiraiya. It's no longer Minato and two randoms, but Minato and Mikoto and Fugaku. Which explains their friendship and close bonds between the families (close enough for Sasuke to call Minato and Kushina uncle and aunt!). Obviously since Madara is dead there was no way for Obito to live and orchestrate an attack on Konoha, so the Uchiha clan is still in the good and no one is unhappy with them, so they don't coup and they're all alive... and on and on.

Naruko's younger sibling – I don't have any real plans for it. It could be twins. Boy or girl. Stillborn or not. It's obviously an OC. But it's up to you guys. Suggest names. Suggest if it dies or not. I don't care much about it.

On honourifics – I'm not a linguist. So please tell me if I make a mistake. The first one I thought of here was naming Minato-oji and Kushina-oba. I assume that's a proper usage, but it may be wrong.

Last note - I am specifically looking for someone able and willing to draw up some fanart for these fics. Obviously I don't care enough to pay for it ;), but if there's a fan of any of my work out there that wants to be a part of it, they have more than my open invitation to get involved. Send me a line and I'll gladly work through with you through drawing up covers for the works.


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